Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 149: Naturalize the people and absorb the culture [Please subscribe]

Liu Kuan mentioned America many times, and every time he mentioned it, he couldn't help but admire the rich products there, as well as the various new crops, medicinal herbs and other specialties that could supplement the shortages in China.

At the beginning of the video, the earth appears against a pure black background, slowly rotating, stopping above the American continent, and then expanding downward.

At the same time, a new male voice was heard.

"In the vast history of human civilization, the distant Americas were once considered an isolated existence."

"The lonely and cold Siberia and the boundless ocean separated America from the Eurasian continent, the center of civilization in the Old World."

"However, being outside the boundaries of known civilizations at the time doesn't mean that the Americas didn't develop their own civilization. Quite the contrary, the indigenous civilizations of the Americas were unique and brilliant..."

The first few minutes of the video mainly introduces the origin of the Native Americans as well as their early civilization forms, production levels, cultural customs, etc.

Next, we begin to talk about the birth and prosperity of the Inca civilization.

When Lao Zhu heard this, he couldn't help but stop.

He looked at Liu Kuan and asked, "You said earlier that the Native Americans were still living on slash-and-burn agriculture and had no country, but what about this Inca Empire?"

Liu Kuan was not surprised to hear Old Zhu's confusion and explained, "Your Majesty, the Inca Empire mentioned in the video existed between the 15th and 16th centuries AD, which is the middle period of the Ming Dynasty."

"Today, the Inca are still just a state in the mountains of western South America - a bit like the numerous states that emerged in the southwest after the fall of the Pagan Kingdom."

"But because they are isolated from the outside world and don't even have iron tools, their fighting capacity is definitely inferior to that of the southwestern princely states."

"In addition, the Inca should have been under a slave system, which is similar to the Xia and Shang dynasties in China."

"Plus, their weapons are primarily bone and stone, and their armor is primarily leather and wood. From the perspective of the Ming, what's the difference between them and the countryless barbarians of the southwest?"

"You do have a point." Old Zhu nodded, his eyes flashing with a gleam as he said, "Look at this video. Those ignorant Native Americans still make a living by hunting and gathering, but there are also some relatively civilized tribes who farm."

"In this way, when the Ming Dynasty opens up its territories in the Americas in the future, it won't be that difficult to naturalize these natives. We just need to follow the same methods we used to treat the barbarians and native states in the southwest, and we can slowly recruit them and make them our own."

Liu Kuan felt that Lao Zhu's idea was a bit "merciful".

If Ming soldiers really land in America in the future, those who seek wealth and fame through risky means may not have the patience to slowly assimilate the native Americans, and plunder and killing will be inevitable.

Of course, due to the different cultural cores, the Native Americans would certainly not be as miserable under the governance of the Ming Dynasty as they were under the "governance" of the Europeans.

Then, at Lao Zhu's signal, the video continued.

It tells the story of one of the most classic civilizations in the Americas, the Mayan civilization.

Because strictly speaking, the Aztec Empire that was later born in northern Central America grew up by inheriting part of the heritage of Mayan civilization and is also considered a part of Mayan civilization.

"The Mayan civilization in Central America was first established around 2000 BC, and its political structure was somewhat similar to that of the ancient Greek city-states."

"The Mayan city-states had complex diplomatic relations. They sometimes opposed each other and sometimes formed alliances. Some city-states also established regional hegemony."

"The Mayan civilization is known for having the most sophisticated writing system in the Americas, as well as advanced astronomical calendars, mathematics, and agricultural systems..."

As the video continued, Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao showed surprise on their faces again.

After the video finished talking about Mayan civilization, Lao Zhu stopped it again.

"This Mayan civilization not only had writing and a calendar, but also astronomy and agriculture, which sound very advanced. However, it was always a federation of city-states and never established a unified nation. It sounds very similar to the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors described in the Book of Documents."

"Also, many of their customs are similar to those of our Shenzhou before the Xia and Shang dynasties. Could it be true, as mentioned at the beginning of the video, that these natives migrated here from our area?"

Liu Kuan nodded. "The most reliable theory among later generations regarding the origins of the Native Americans is that they migrated from Asia."

"Of course, there may also be a very small number of ancient people in Europe and Southeast Asia who, due to some chance, drifted to America and passed down their bloodline."

“So the skin color and appearance of the Native Americans look similar to ours, but there are some differences.”

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. "I just heard in the video that the Inca Empire may have had a population of 40 million at its peak, which is not much different from the current population of our Ming Dynasty."

"When we were thinking about the New World, we were worried that if we moved too many people there, it would lead to a shortage of population in the Ming Dynasty."

"It seems that as long as we can find a suitable method to naturalize the Native Americans and make them serve us, the Ming Dynasty will never lack population when it expands its territory into the Americas."

"Your Majesty is wise." Liu Kuan praised sincerely.

As a person who has received 21st century education, Liu Kuan naturally does not want the Ming Dynasty's occupation of America to be as brutal and bloody as that of the Europeans.

Zhu Yuanzhang was able to explain the benefits of naturalizing the natives based on the interests of the Ming Dynasty, which means that the Ming Dynasty's future policy towards the American natives would most likely be based on naturalization.

Zhu Biao wondered, "Confucian sages all admired the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and some even advocated a return to the past, hoping to restore the systems of that time." "The video says that the Mayan civilization was similar to the tribal alliance system of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Why did it flourish at its peak only to decline and even collapse within sixty years?"

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, "So some of the words of those Confucian scholars are just pedantic. Just listen to them, don't believe them at all."

"Everything in this world is strong when it's together and weak when it's apart. The Mayan civilization practiced tribal alliances for hundreds of years, but still couldn't unify and centralize power. Naturally, it declined."

Liu Kuan explained, "Your Highness, the city-state alliance system of the Mayan civilization is different from the tribal alliance system of the early Chinese civilization."

"The biggest difference is that several tribal alliances in China have had leaders since their inception, also known as the common ruler of the world, such as the Five Emperors and Chi You, who was once an enemy of the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor."

"After Dayu controlled the floods, he took advantage of the situation to establish the Xia Dynasty, thus starting the inheritance of dynasties from generation to generation in China."

Zhu Biao added, "This Mayan civilization, like our Chinese civilization, has lasted for thousands of years. Their writing, calendar, astronomy, agriculture, mathematics, and other aspects must have been exceptional."

"According to this video, although the Mayan civilization began to decline four or five hundred years ago, many tribes and city-states still carry on its culture today, and it hasn't been truly extinguished."

"If the Ming Dynasty ever sets foot here, we will collect the Mayan writing, mathematics, calendar, astronomy, agriculture, and other heritage, and absorb their essence to enhance the cultural heritage of the Ming Dynasty."

After hearing this, Liu Kuan sighed sincerely, "Your Highness the Crown Prince's foresight and vision truly impress me."

"Historically, the Spanish brutally annihilated many Mayan tribes and their culture. Ultimately, only three Mayan books survived, leaving only a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of Mayan knowledge in mathematics, astronomy, and other areas. It's truly a pity."

"If the Ming Dynasty were to set foot there, we should, as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has said, gather their civilizational heritage, absorb their essence, and strengthen the cultural heritage of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "The Mayan civilization is located in Central America. I'm afraid we may not be able to wait until the day when the Ming soldiers set foot there. I'll leave the task of collecting information about the Mayan civilization to you, Biao'er."

Zhu Biao immediately said: "Father will live a long life."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head. "What good is it to live a hundred years? To watch your wives die one after another?"

Having said that, Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have thought of something, frowned slightly, and looked a little bleak.

Seeing this, Liu Kuan asked for instructions and continued the video.

The up host began to talk about the Aztec civilization.

"The Aztec civilization is an important civilization that emerged in Central America after the Mayan civilization. Aztec is a general term for many tribes, and the Aztecs call themselves Mexica."

"Around 1325 AD, the Mexica founded a city on Lake Texcoco in present-day central Mexico that became Tenochtitlan..."

A few minutes later, after listening to the story of Aztec civilization, Liu Kuan paused the video at Lao Zhu's instruction.

Old Zhu commented, "The Aztecs grew from a small tribe into a city-state alliance, and then into a nation encompassing a large area of ​​northern Central America. This took only two or three hundred years. Their development was much faster than that of the Mayan civilization."

"It's a pity that they were born at the wrong time. They happened to be born when the Western barbarians entered the American continent. Even though they were powerful, their prosperity was short-lived."

"By the way, the Aztecs began to rise to prominence in 1325 AD, when they founded that city. If we use the Gregorian calendar you taught us earlier, that wouldn't be more than sixty years ago, right?"

Whenever Liu Kuan gave Zhu Yuanzhang some historical spoilers, he would always mention the century AD. This meant that he had already informed Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao about the later AD calendar during a casual conversation.

Although Old Zhu did not like the Gregorian calendar system that originated from the Western barbarians, he also remembered the periods that corresponded to the dynasties of China, especially the period that corresponded to the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the time when the Aztecs established the city-state was calculated at once.

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, if the video content is correct, 56 years have passed since then."

Old Zhu smiled and said, "Then the Aztec civilization is probably at its peak, and its national strength is still on the rise. In the future, it can barely be considered a rival to our Ming Dynasty in the Americas."

This kind of weak opponent is just right for training the army and cultivating the princes and grandchildren who are enfeoffed, so Zhu Yuanzhang is happy to see it.

Zhu Biao sighed at this time: "The Aztecs actually practiced such large-scale human sacrifices. They are truly more barbaric than the minority barbarians and nomadic tribes in the southwest."

After hearing what Zhu Biao said, Liu Kuan suddenly remembered something and felt that he could take advantage of the current opportunity to bring it up.

He then bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Speaking of which, your majesty's achievements in establishing the Ming Dynasty are largely admired and respected by later generations. Even though some of your policies have been criticized by later generations, there are still those who support them, which has led to controversy."

"But there is only one thing Your Majesty has done that has been criticized by future generations."

Zhu Biao, Li Wenzhong and others were stunned when they heard this. They did not expect Liu Kuan to say such words at this time, which would most likely make Zhu Yuanzhang angry.

Old Zhu also restrained his smile and asked calmly, "What's the matter?"

　First update.

　　(My cold keeps coming back...I need to get IV drips for three days.)
　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)